It feels very unnatural to head out the door at 1am, with your evening’s entertainment still ahead of you. Or perhaps I’m just getting far too old, but it seemed many people hadn’t come out at all when I showed up to Sandwiches to catch Tokyo Prose. Jonny Kon was just finishing his set to a disappointingly populated floor. Nonetheless this didn’t deter Kon from belting out some nicely fused liquid drum and bass that had those on the floor smiling from ear to ear. The resident MC unfortunately added little to proceedings, as is often the case with resident MCs, but dropping shots with the DJ lifted his confidence just enough to deliver some slick lines before sinking back to one-word chants. Kon finished up by projecting some old school drum and bass onto the floor and getting a nice reaction, but really ended on a high as the sounds got dark and gritty.
But the young revellers who had seemingly been hiding during Kon’s set soon came out of the woodwork when the Auckland producer got down to business. Straight off he laid out some soaring chords populated by big drops that even consumed the MC, stunning him into silence for a time. The variation in the vocal samples by Prose is what is most refreshing in his live work, with bluesy riffs fluidly bleeding into soaring ethereal vocals. As his name would suggest, the Japanese influence made a serene appearance, with the highlight of the night featuring a Koto-style Japanese string riff that lead into a collective drum and bass experience to rival the best producers working not just in New Zealand today, but anywhere else.
While a sweeping comedown threatened to clear the dancefloor as people recuperated or went to the bar to refuel, they were soon back as the sense that something else was building soon permeated throughout Sandwiches. Prose slid effortlessly into a smooth and golden lounge drum and bass peppered with chocolate vocals and a deep piano that was so smooth it had people fixed to the floor. The set plateaued on a high, with solid beats adding yet more bodies to the floor before soothingly sinking back down into soulful and laid back drum and bass once.
These undulations continued well into the night as some Jungle-heightened beats brought everyone back to the peak of their energy. The fusion between jungle and hip hop was so expertly done as to go largely unnoticed, and then Prose’s superb blending back in of drum and bass over the hip hop fluidly married the two. Only was it towards the dying minutes of his set that Prose really got down to the dirty end of drum and bass. Big drops and even bigger beats were the order of the day, and left everyone pumped and ready for more.
Tokyo Prose’s set was as soothing and yet as epic as the tide itself. It could go from soaring highs and massive sounds rights down to smooth relaxing bass that left one drifting from side to side and thinking about sweeping Japanese mountain ranges. It’s strength came from its regularity, yet still managed to throw in some very pleasing surprises. You not know exactly what you’re going to get with a Tokyo Prose set, but you know you’ll come away all the better for hearing it.
But the young revellers who had seemingly been hiding during Kon’s set soon came out of the woodwork when the Auckland producer got down to business. Straight off he laid out some soaring chords populated by big drops that even consumed the MC, stunning him into silence for a time. The variation in the vocal samples by Prose is what is most refreshing in his live work, with bluesy riffs fluidly bleeding into soaring ethereal vocals. As his name would suggest, the Japanese influence made a serene appearance, with the highlight of the night featuring a Koto-style Japanese string riff that lead into a collective drum and bass experience to rival the best producers working not just in New Zealand today, but anywhere else.
While a sweeping comedown threatened to clear the dancefloor as people recuperated or went to the bar to refuel, they were soon back as the sense that something else was building soon permeated throughout Sandwiches. Prose slid effortlessly into a smooth and golden lounge drum and bass peppered with chocolate vocals and a deep piano that was so smooth it had people fixed to the floor. The set plateaued on a high, with solid beats adding yet more bodies to the floor before soothingly sinking back down into soulful and laid back drum and bass once.
These undulations continued well into the night as some Jungle-heightened beats brought everyone back to the peak of their energy. The fusion between jungle and hip hop was so expertly done as to go largely unnoticed, and then Prose’s superb blending back in of drum and bass over the hip hop fluidly married the two. Only was it towards the dying minutes of his set that Prose really got down to the dirty end of drum and bass. Big drops and even bigger beats were the order of the day, and left everyone pumped and ready for more.
Tokyo Prose’s set was as soothing and yet as epic as the tide itself. It could go from soaring highs and massive sounds rights down to smooth relaxing bass that left one drifting from side to side and thinking about sweeping Japanese mountain ranges. It’s strength came from its regularity, yet still managed to throw in some very pleasing surprises. You not know exactly what you’re going to get with a Tokyo Prose set, but you know you’ll come away all the better for hearing it.
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